United States Department of Veterans Affairs

National Center for Patient Safety

Patient Safety Fellowships

Patient Safety Fellowships

NCPS and the VA Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) have teamed to offer one-year fellowships in patient safety. Proposals were generated and sites identified during 2005-2006; eleven fellows began the program in July 2007. The funding is provided by OAA.

The fellowships provide in-depth education in patient safety practice and leadership. The program links individualized, mentored training at six training sites around the nation to a state-of-the-art curriculum in the science of patient safety improvement.

Fellowships are offered to:

  • Post-residency trained physicians.
  • Post-doctoral or post-masters-degree-trained associated health professionals, such as:
    • Nurses
    • Psychologists
    • Pharmacists
    • Social workers
    • Health care administrators

The 2007-2008 fellowship year began with a week-long intensive orientation to patient safety, including such topics as human factors engineering, root cause analysis, and health care failure mode and effect analysis.

Throughout the year, didactic and interactive learning sessions have continued by way of video conferencing. The fellows are scheduled to meet again in person in May 2008.

The fellows have rapidly become involved in project work at each of the sites:

  • Evaluation of fall injuries and strategies to prevent them.
  • Curriculum for physician assistants.
  • Evaluating RCA effectiveness for patient safety improvement.
  • Relation of disciplinary actions to patient safety.
  • Sustainability of changes after medical team training.
  • Dialysis safety (prevention of hemorrhage through prevention or early
    detection of disconnection).
  • Prevention of bloodstream infections via “needleless” ports, and misidentified lab
    specimens.
  • Correct, timely laboratory processing.

Learn More

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